We, the former Steering Committee of Leather Naturally are pleased to announce that as from 18th October 2018, Leather Naturally has been incorporated as an Association (‘Vereniging’ in Dutch) according to Dutch law. Below, we describe what we have been doing, what needs to be done and the need for your input latest November 15th.

The decision by Helsinki Fashion Week to ban leather makes no sense in terms of sustainability or environment. Leather Naturally challenges the thinking behind the decision in a letter to the organisers.

Looking objectively at the world today we know we consume too much “stuff”, get pressured by the consumer society to replace it too quickly, and that a high percentage of that “stuff” is not responsibly made or recycled for one reason or another.

"I recently stood in a trade show booth for multiple days and answered consumer questions about beef production. It’s amazing that some environmentally conscious consumers actually believe the hype that beef production is causing more global warming than all transportation combined in our county!" Gregory Bloom, meatingplace.com

An article in The Telegraph online that claims car manufacturers should ditch leather was not well received by readers. Leather Naturally added its own voice to the majority of consumer commenters who both understand the provenance of modern automotive leather and value its benefits.

While it is quite easy to explain what is not sustainable, declaring something to be sustainable is difficult. There is no precise definition of the term sustainable that allows a simple statement of “yes” to the sustainability of a product.